In 2018, Microsoft launched “Project Natick” to test underwater data storage (worth reading the book "Tools & Weapons" by Brad Smith, president and vice-chair of Microsoft Corp.). The feasibility was proved by in 2020, after a data centre containing 855 servers was gropped to the seabed off Orkney, coast of Scotland. When the centre was reeled up, only eight servers were down, when the average on land in the same time frame would have been 64. Data centres are used to centralise shared information technology (IT) operations and are essential for the running of our daily lives; the Cloud, Google, Meta etc all run in data centers. More recently, a company named Subsea Cloud indicated that their seabed data centres cost 90 per cent less than land-based ones and that their first 10 pods would aim to offset more than 7,683 tons of CO2 in comparison with an equivalent land-based centre, by reducing the need for electrical cooling. Traditional data centers use millions of liters of water each day and produce astonishing amounts of CO2. Underwater data centers are naturarely cooled, use zero refrigerants and zero harmful chemicals. And prevents CO2 from being emitted, fitting into the overall subsea ecosystem, according to the company. Click here to access the website of Subsea Cloud and on the image below for the portal of Microsoft's “Project Natick" and its vast literature about this innovative approach.
